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The galaxy ofStellarisis an ancient one, where entire civilizations have risen and fallen while your empire was still learning how to make fire. The remnants of the Precursors are everywhere, and some of their most in-depth storylines involve archaeological sites.
Sending a Scientist to excavate an archaeological site means committing them to years of study, even if they’re extremely skilled, but the chance of finding a Relic, however slim, makes it well worth their time. This guide has everything you need to know about digging into the galaxy’s past at these unique, mysterious places.
Archaeological Sites are a feature of Stellaris’Ancient Relics DLC.
How To Find Archaeological Sites
Like Anomalies, most archaeological sitesare revealed by surveying planets with Science Ships.Once you’ve found one, it’s easily recognizable by theshovel symbol on its location; the star system on the Galaxy Map, or the planet on the System Map. Either way, the symbol will beto the right of the location’s name.
Archaeological sites that have already been fully excavated will have their shovel symbolgrayed out.
Archaeological sites will also (rarely) spawn as the result ofinvestigating an Anomalyorstory events at newly-settled colonies.
How To Excavate Archaeological Sites
You can only excavate an archaeological site that iswithin your empire’s borders- even if a site is in unclaimed territory, you won’t be able to access it without firstbuilding a Starbase in its system.You don’t, however, need to colonize the exact planet where the site is located.
Once you have control of the system,send a Science Ship crewed by a Scientist Leaderto perform theExcavate Siteaction. The higher the character’s level, the more efficient the excavation will be overall,especially if they have the Archaeologist Trait.
Overall progress toward excavating a site is persistent, so if necessary, you can have your Scientist leave the dig and come back later, or swap them out for a different character. Generally, though, it’s best to just keep the same character working at the excavation until it’s finished.
How Excavation Works
Each archaeological site is divided into several Chapters, each of which requires a Breakthrough to progress. While assigned to a site, a Scientist willrepeatedly perform the Excavate Site action, which attempts to make a Breakthrough each time it completes.
At the end of an Excavate Site action, the Scientistrolls a ten-sided die, adding their Skill Level but subtracting the Difficulty of the site’s current Chapter (both of which can be seen on the site’s info screen). If they’ve found any Clues to the current Chapter, the number of Clues are also added to the roll. The results based on the die roll are as follows:
5 or lower
No benefit; the Scientist attempts another Excavate Site action.
6-10
1 Clue is gained for the current Chapter; the Scientist attempts another Excavate Site action.
11-13
2 Clues are gained for the current Chapter; the Scientist attempts another Excavate Site action.
14 or higher
Breakthrough; the current Chapter ends, unlocking its reward. If there are more Chapters at the site, the Scientist automatically starts work on the next one.
Archaeological Site Rewards
The overwhelming majority of archaeological sites awardMinor Artifactsat the end of each Chapter, denoted by a purple icon. These can be spent on theDiscoveries Tabto activate bonuses for your Empire, or used in specificPlanetary Decisionsto enhance individual colonies.
Most sites will create a small Minor Artifact deposit on their planet when fully excavated; building a Research Station there will let you slowly build up a stockpile over time.
If you’re very lucky, an archaeological site will yield a Relic, which can also be found on the Discoveries Tab. These unique, powerful artifacts havepassive effects just for owning them, and you canactivate them for a large amount of Unityto get an exceptional bonus, usually a ten-year buff or a huge lump sum of resources.
Archaeological sites aren’t the only way to get Relics, but they’re the most common, and since each Relic is unique,
